STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD L. OTTINGER 
ON RECOMBINANT DNA RESEARCH REGULATION 
September 15, 1978 
Mr. Chairman, members of the panel, I appreciate the opportunity to appear 
before you this morning. 
I would just like to make a few brief remarks this morning about the urgency 
with which I am convinced HEW must act to regulate recombinant DNA research. 
As the first Member of Congress to have introduced legislation on this matter 
nearly two years ago, I have watched with escalating concern the increase in 
commitments, particularly in the commercial sector, to recombinant DNA research. 
Quite simply, the whole matter is rapidly getting out of control, and it 
is at this juncture appropriate for HEW to take the reins and protect the public 
from any further loss of control until Congress acts. 
The failure of the Congress to act is one which troubles me, and I am 
personally very disappointed. But that failure is not one upon which HEW should 
now base any excuses for inaction. Rather, it is directly because Congress has 
not acted and cannot act during this session that I come before you today to 
urge your action. 
The failure of the Congress resulted from some of the most vigorous and, 
in many instances, distasteful, lobbying I have ever seen on any issue. When the 
scientific establishment gangs up on Congress, touting its expertise as the only 
thing going and claiming to be capable itself of protecting the public, it seems 
clear that Congress is hard-pressed to resist. Th^oe sorts of assertions must 
now be resisted by HEW. 
Recombinant DNA research has the potential for bringing us some of the 
greatest horror stories since we dropped the atomic bomb in Japan. The recent 
transport of smallpox from England to the United States is illustrative of the 
kind of problem we might face with DNA research. We were told a year ago by the 
World Health Organizaiton (WHO) that smallpox had been eradicated and was only a 
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